‘Even if she does just want attention, what’s wrong with that?’
Cinema has forever been fascinated by the sensual power of teenage girls. Everything from Picnic at Hanging Rock to The Virgin Suicides has explored this area, but British drama Baby Love was perhaps one of the earliest films to explore this particular taboo. I’m not really sure what to make of it…
Luci Thompson (Linda Hayden), a 15-year-old schoolgirl, seduces her adoptive family after the suicide of her mother (Diana Dors). Keith Barron plays the patriarch of the household. That’s pretty much it in terms of plot.
Aside from the previously mentioned film, Baby Love also reminded me of Saltburn since Luci weaves herself into the lives of the Thompson family and then destroys them from the inside. What muddies the waters is her age. Is Luci being exploited, or is she the one in control? The film never definitely answers that question either way, instead allowing the excellent performances to drive the plot. Haydemn, a newcomer, delivers a confident and nuanced performance in the lead role, particularly for one so long, and Dors, a fading star by this point, is suitably tragic as Luci’s doomed mother.
Baby Love is an odd film since I’m not really sure what, if anything, it is trying to say. Either way, it’s another decent entry in the canon of British kitchen sink realism and worth watching for Hayden’s performance alone.
